§ Mr. David ShawTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy is he will make a statement on the achievements of his Department and his policies in helping small businesses over the last 12 months compared with the previous 12 months; and if he will publish the performance indicators by which his Department monitors those achievements and the statistical results of such monitoring.
§ Mr. ParkinsonThe extent to which my Department's activities affect small businesses remains largely as stated in my reply to my hon. Friend on 14 July 1987 at columns414–15. My Department continues to take full account of small business needs in developing and implementing its policies. Particular developments have taken place in the following areas over the last year:
—British Coal Enterprise Ltd. has continued to help create jobs in coalfield areas, many of which are in small businesses. Funding available from the Government has risen to £45 million, and the company has attracted additional finance from other sources of over £228 million. New job opportunities created now total 30,275 in 2,138 individual projects.548W—The Government are looking at ways to liberalise the restrictions applying to existing small, private, licensed mining operations.—the Energy Efficiency Office has been involved in a number of new initiatives targeted specifically on small businesses. It has distributed a booklet, "Advice for Small Firms", through the Department of Employment's small firms advisory service (SFAS) and has helped to train SFAS counsellors to be aware of the advantages to small businesses in improving energy efficiency. It has also assisted in the launch of 13 energy action cities campaigns to raise the profile of energy efficiency in the local community, including small businesses; and run energy clinics in some regions at which small businesses are advised how best to solve their energy problems.